DPW Hosts Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day June 6

May 27, 2020

The Portsmouth Department of Public Works will hold its biannual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day on Saturday, June 6, 2020, at the Public Works facility at 680 Peverly Hill Road. Residents of Portsmouth, Greenland and Newington are encouraged to bring household chemicals for safe disposal between 8 am and 12 noon. Proof of residency is required.

Collection Day is organized as a no-touch, drive-through service. Residents remain in their vehicles and pull through the Public Works garage, where staff will remove disposable items from car trunks. All City staff will be wearing masks and will be practicing social distancing. Residents will be asked verbally about their town of residence for survey purposes, in compliance with EPA requirements.

Household hazardous waste collection helps safely dispose of items that can harm residents' health, the environment and drinking water supplies.

Items that qualify for collection include the following:

  • From the yard: fertilizer with pesticides or fungicides, insect spray, lighter fluid, pest strips/traps, pesticides, poisons and pool chemicals.
  • From the garage: acids, car waxes/polish, creosote, driveway sealer/tar, flea powder, gasoline, radiator fluid and roofing tar.
  • From the house: bathroom cleaner, disinfectants, furniture polish, metal polish, mothballs, oven cleaner, photo chemicals, rug cleaner and wood strippers.
  • From the workbench: brush cleaner, corrosives, lead and oil-based paint/stain/finish, rust preventive solvents, thinner/turpentine and wood preservatives.

Items that do NOT qualify include:

  • Empty containers for household items, which may be disposed of in the regular trash collection.
  • Explosives
  • Asbestos
  • Medical waste
  • Latex paint, which may be solidified with kitty litter, sawdust, speedy dry or by opening the can and allowing the paint to completely dry before it is disposed either at the Recycling Center or through regular trash pick-up.

For more information on the importance of properly disposing Household Hazardous Waste, click here.

For more information on the Recycling Center, click here.